Amusement device



Feb. 16 1926.

N. LE R. ROGERS I AMUSEMENT DEVICE Filed June 4, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 16 1926. 1,573,645

N. LE R. ROGERS AMUSEMENT DEVICE -F'iled Jung 4.. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /Ve=w/m/7 .ZePay {1 967 Patented Feb. 16, 1926. l

NEWMAN LE noy'noenns, or os A eE Es n-LmoRNIA AMUSEMENT nEv'IoE;

Application filed June 4, 1925. Serial No. 34,897;

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NE MAN Roenns, a citizen of the United States, 're-,-

siding at Los Angeles, in the county-of Los .Angeles and State of California, have/1nvented new and useful Improvements in Amusement, Devices, .of which the following 1 r termediate wall 16 to' the back wall 10.-

is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements I 11 and 12 there is secured'ai transparent in amusement device's.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved form of amusement device. which is of the type of a concession.

V The device consists essentially ofa p, lu-' rality of. targets and a plurality of contain-,

ers, one container being associated with each target. 'Suitable missiles are employed which are adapted to. be thrown at the targets, and a baiiie structure is used. wherein the missiles which miss the target will be caused to fall in any of the containers. Means is provided whereby when the target is hit, the balls within the container which is associated with that target will-be released.v l

A further object of this invention is to provide 7 an amusement- 'device which will stimulate trade, the ballsor missiles which are released from the-containers being used as tokens in trade.

With the foregoing and other objects in view hich will be mademanifest in the following detailed description and specifically pointed out in the appended claims,

reference is had to the 'accompanyingdraw,--

Referring to the accompanyingin 's for an illustrative embodiment of the drawings wherein similar reference characters desig-,- nate similar parts throughout, the dev ce consists of a back wall 10 and side walls 11 and'12 projecting forwardly therefrom. VA"

bottom 13 is provided which at its forward which serve as targets.

troughs. Upon the upper end of the back wall 10 there is mounted a suitable padding- 1% andapertures ,15. are; formed therein, An intermediate wall-16 is arranged. forwardlyof the :back' clined plate'17 connects the top. of the in- Upon the forward edgesof the side walls plate 18 which is preferably [formed of glass, but may be formed of other transparent material, if desired. This glass'plate constitutes the front'wall for th'edevice and is parallelv to the intermediate andflback wallsl6 and. 10. Pins 19 project from the intermediate wall 16 forwardly towardthev glass. plate 18. These pins are preferably staggered and are formed of resilientlmaterial, such as steel or the like. Theyserve to define tortuous passages or to form baffles ATIENT I 60. wall 10 and parallel. thereto, and, an 111-5.

between the parallel walls-16 and 18. Transparent walls 20 extend downwardly and. forwardly from the bottom of :the glass plate 18 and doors 21 are hinged to 'the lower ends of the walls 20. 7 As shown'upon Fig. 2, these doors may also bear transparent panels, r I

Partitions 22 are arranged between the intermediate wjall 16and the walls 20 and the doors 21 so as; to define containers for-' wardly of the intermediate wall '16 below the transparent wall .18. A tube 23 is ar-. ranged behind each of tlieapertures 15 and this tube extends downwardlythrough the back wall 10 and between the back wall 10 to the .lever 25. A spring 28 urges the free end of the large member 26 into uppermost position and also maintains the key 2 1in uppermost position. The free end of the largemember 26 engages a dog 29-carried by the door 21. i The operation of the device is as follows; A plurality of balls or-other suitable missiles B are provided which are thrown at the targets provided by the apertures 15.

,- and the intermediate wall 16: A key 24 is positioned below" the lower end of .the tube which key extends throughthe bottom. of

one of the containers toward the left hand The padding 14 reduces the tendency of the balls to bounce backwardly if they miss the targets and the balls fall downwardly, striking the inclined plate 17 and pass between ous passages established by the pins 19 and fall into one of the containers. When the target is hit, by one of the balls B, the ball passes through the aperture 15, downwardly through the tube 23 and strikes the key 21 associated with that target. This causes the free end of the large member 26 to disengage the dog 29 and allow the door 21 to open. The balls which are within that container which is associated with the target will then roll down the troughs provided in the front of the bottom of the device. The ball which depresses the key 24 passes through an aperture 30 formed in the back wall 10 andis not kept with the balls in the container, although if desired, the ball which strikes the target and depresses the key may be caused to enter the container and to be associated with the balls therein. The person who strikes the target receives all of the balls which are in the container associated with that target and can redeem them in trade.

If desired, a suitable screen 31 may be mounted forwardly of the glass plate 18 so as to protect the glass plate from being struck by one of the balls. This construction is not essential and it will be obvious that the screen 31 may be used for the glass plate 18 or the glass plate can be made of bullet proof glass or similar non-breakable material.

Some interesting features of this device are noted as follows: The transparent wall 20 enables persons to see the number of balls in the containers. If, for example, the container upon the extreme right of the device is practically full of balls, the person throwing will naturally throw toward the target on the extreme right, endcavoring to obtain the balls in the container associated with it. Those balls which he throws at the target and misses will. not usually fall into the container which is immediately below it. T he pins 19 constituting bailles form the tortuous passages and usually cause the ball which is thrown at the target on the extreme right to zig-zag downwardly and fall into side. After a number of balls have been thrown at the target on the extreme right, it will then be understood that the containers adjacent the left of the device will begin to become filled. If the target for the container on the extreme right is finally hit, the balls in that container will be re leased but in the meantime other containers will have become filled with the balls which missed, and the next person throwing will have a partially filled container which he will endeavor to get as the result of his efforts. In this manner it will be appreciated that the balls which are thrown and which miss the target are more or less evenly distributed among the containers, thus always producing an inducement to play the device. 7 i

The exact construction of the releasing mechanism for releasing the balls in the container, which is associated with the target structure is somewhat immaterial;

In Fig. 5 there is illustrated a modified form in which the target consists of a buttontO, which is urged forwardly by a spring 41. The button carries a contact l2 adapted to engage a stationary contact 13. A wire 44; connects the stationary contact as to one terminal of a suitable sourceof electric current. A wire 4-5 connects the movable contact 42 to one terminal of a solenoid 46, the other terminal of the solenoid being connected by a wire 17 to tie other terminal to a source of electric current. This solenoid 46 is mounted beneath the bottom 13 of the device and has a core 16 slidable therein which engages the dog 29 upon the door 21. This core is normally held against the dog 29 by a spring disposed within the solenoid. A springtS urges the door 21 into open position, and this spring may also be employed upon the modification shown in the preferred form of the device.

The operation of the device'is as follows: When the ball B strikes the target or button -10, it moves it rearwardly against the action of the, spring 41. The contact 22 engages the contact 43 and establishes an electric circuit through the solenoid 46, drawing the core 46 downwardly against the action of the coil spring within the solenoid, and thus releases the dog 29, enabling. the door 21 to be swung open under the action of the spring 48, thus releasing the balls. After the door of the container has been swung open, it can be closed again by hand after the balls have all been released.

If desired, the spring 48 can be employed to urge the door into closed or latching position, and the door can be opened by the weights of the balls within the containers when the latch is withdrawn so as tounlock the door when the target is struck. Also, it will be appreciated that, if desired, the intermediate wall 16 can be inclined backwardly instead of being vertical, as shown. In such case, the balls which miss the target roll down the inclined wall 16 upon which there are arranged the pins 19. This construction will permit tortuous passages of .and which will readily stimulate trade.

It will be understood that Various changes in the detail of construction may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention as defined by the appended claims.

a I claim: g

1. An amusement devicecomprising a plurality of targets, a container below each of said targets, balls adapted to be thrown at the targets, and means providing tortuous passages between the targets and the containers whereby balls thrown at a target and missing it will be caused to drop into any of said containers. I a

i 2. An amusement device comprising a plurality of targets, a container below each of said targets, balls adapted tobe' thrown at thetargets, means providing tortuous passages between the targets and the containers whereby balls thrown at a target and missing it will be caused to drop into any of said containers, and means actuated upon striking a target for releasing the balls in the container associated therewith.

3. An amusement device comprising a plurality of targets, a container associated with each target and disposed therebelow, missiles adapted to be thrown at thetargets, means providing parallel walls forwardly of the targets and over said containers, and

pin baffles arranged between said. walls whereby missiles missing a target will be dropped between said walls and caused to fall into any one of said containers by said pin bafiles.

4. An amusement device comprising a plurality of targets, a container associated with each, target and vdisposed therebelow, missiles adaptedto be thrown at the targets, means providing parallel walls forwardly of the targets and over said containers, pin baliles arranged between said walls whereby missiles missing a target will be dropped between said walls and caused to fall into any one of said containers by said pin baflles, and means actuated upon hitting a target for releasing the balls in the container associated therewith.

5. An amusement device comprising a plurality of targets, a container associated with each target and disposed therebelow, missiles adapted to be thrown at the targets,

means providing parallel walls forwardly of the targets and over said containers, pin

baflies arranged between said walls whereby missiles missing a target will be dropped between said walls and caused to fall into any one of said containers by said pin baflies, and means actuated upon hitting a target for releasing the balls in the container asso-- ciated therewith, said containers being providedwith transparent walls 'as and for the purpose described.

6. An amusement device comprising a back stop, a plurality of targets mounted upon the back stop, a container associated with each target and disposed therebelow, means providing a pair of parallel walls above said containersand below the targets, the forward wall being transparent, means providing tortuous passages between said walls, and missiles adapted to be thrown at said targets, the device being so constructed that missiles missing the targets will fall between said walls and drop into any one of said containers.

7. An amusement device comprising a back stop, a plurality of targets mounted upon the back stop, a container associated with each target and disposed therebelow, means providing a pair of parallel walls above said containers'and below the targets, the forward wall being transparent, means providing tortuous passages between said walls, missiles adapted to'be thrown at said targets, the device being so constructed that missiles missing the targets will fall between said walls and drop into anyone of said containers, and means actuated upon hitting a target for releasing the balls in the container associated therewith.

8. An amusement device comprising a back stop, a plurality of targets upon the back stop, a container associated with each target and disposed therebelow, missiles adapted to be thrownat the targets, means f providing tortuous passages having a transparent wall above the containers, whereby missiles missing the target will drop into any of said passages into any of-said containers, each container having a transparent wall and a door, spring meansurging the door into open position, means for normally retaining the door in closed position, and means actuatedupon hitting the target associated with a given container for releasing its door so asto release the balls therein. .In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

I NEWMAN LEROY ROGERS. 

